Marcia Herdy Varella, M.D., Ph.D., M.H.S.

Marcia Varella, M.D., is a pediatrician and clinical epidemiologist. She joined FIU HWCOM as Professor in June 2013. Before that he worked as a faculty at the medical school of Unigranrio University and attending physician in neonatal intensive care units in Rio.

At HWCOM, Varella’s main activities involve teaching epidemiology and evidence-based medicine concepts and serving as content and methodological mentor to research projects of medical students in a variety of fields. As a result of her mentorship, students have presented their scientific work in prestigious national meetings and published in peer-review journals. Varella own research interests rely on the risk factors and interventions during early life that contribute to the health of children. Other areas of interest are related to the fields of breastfeeding (correlated factors for breastfeeding initiation and cessation), and neurocognitive development (including attention deficit disorders and hyperactivity).

Education

Ph.D. (Clinical Epidemiology), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2012)
Master of Science (Clinical Epidemiology), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2005)
Neonatology, Instituto Fernando Figueira, RJ, Brazil (2001)
Pediatrics, Instituto de Puericulturra e Pediatria do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil (2000)
M.D., Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil (1998)

Selected Publications

1. Fagenson, A. M.; Grossi S.M.; Musgrove, K. Solomon, N. Rodrigues de la Vega, P.; Castro, G.; Pitt, H. A.; Varella, M.; Zevallos, J.; Acuna, A. Ethnic and racial disparities of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in Florida. HPB 2020; 22(5):735-743.
2. Maas JA, Monreal AJ, Diaz EL, Castro G, Rodriguez de la Vega P, Varella M. Marital Status and Survival in Patients Diagnosed with Melanoma. Dermatol Res Pract. 2020;2020:2485401. Published 2020 Jan 30.
3. Acuña JM, Ward-Peterson M, Zevallos JC, Castro G, Rodríguez de la Vega P, Guzzone F, Varella MH, Ruiz-Peláez, JG, Lozano JM. Development of a Mandatory Research Scholarship Course at a New Medical School in Miami, Florida. Sci.Educ 2017; 27: 155–158
4. Varella, M.H., Moss, W. Catch-up growth patterns and intelligence scores during childhood in children born small-for-gestational-age. Early Human Development. 2015; 91:491-497.